Aptamer (LON: APTA) has won four contracts worth up to £507,000 over six months. They cover pharmaceuticals. Gene therapy and vaccines clients. Further funding is still needed by the custom affinity binder developer, and this is vital for its future. The share price recovered 23.5% to 5.25p.
Trading in oil and gas producer Caspian Sunrise (LON: CASP) shares has recommenced after it published 2022 accounts. Average product increased by 48% to 2,1700 barrels of oil equivalent/day with revenues reaching $42.9m. There was $18.5m of cash generated, but current liabilities are around $16m. Management plans to bring more deep wells into production. The share price rose 14.7% to 3.9p.
Ocean Harvest Technology (LON: OHT) non-executive director Stephen Walker bought 35,000 shares at 13.6p each, while Terence Butler Holdings acquired 75,000 shares at 14.06p each, taking its stake to 18.6%. Earlier this year, a placing raised £6m, or £4.5m after expenses, at 16p. The company produces ingredients for animal feed using seaweed under the OceanFeed brand name. The share price improved 7.27% to 14.75p.
Market research firm YouGov (LON: YOU) has raised £51.2m at 920p/share to help finance the purchase of the consumer panel business of GfK for €315m. The share price recovered 2.09% to 975p. That cash should enhance earnings by a mid-teens percentage in the first full year. GfK has consumer panels in 16 European countries that cover more than 100,000 households. The EU is forcing GfK to sell this business following the merger with NielsenIQ. In 2022, revenues were €134m and pre-tax profit was €24m.
Quadrise (LON: QED) has launched a placing and open offer to raise up to £2.2m at 1.25p/share. That is less than the maximum sought by the clean energy company. The share price slumped 34.3% to 1.2475p. A bookbuild has commenced for the placing. Quadrise has significant potential in the marine and industrial markets.
Shares in self-storage sites operator Lok’nStore (LON: LOK) rose after its placing was oversubscribed and it raised £20.5m at 765p/share. The share price fell 8.96% to 772p. There is a REX retail offer to existing shareholders that closes on 12 July. Up to £2m will be raised in this offer. This cash will replace debt funding for building new sites because interest rates are increasing.
Vast Resources (LON: VAST) is raising £1.7m at 0.35p because it has not received the cash expected from a parcel of diamonds in the reserve bank in Zimbabwe. The share price declined 8.64% to 0.37p. Vast Resources has missed a debt repayment deadline for $8.4m and it is negotiating with the debt providers. The Baita Plai mine in Romania reached operational breakeven in June.
Continued problems with drilling contractor SOFORI is hampering progress at Helium One Global (LON: HE1) and it assessing options for obtaining a drilling rig for the Tai-C well in Tanzania. Talks with SOFORI are still going on and civil works are readying the site for drilling. The share price is 8.11% lower at 5.1p.
